Glory Bound
by Tiruneko
Summary: "Call me The Panda Hero." In the crowded streets of a bustling and crime ridden gross city, some live buried in the shadows of pain and fear. The life lead by some is crippling enough to drive even the best of men mad. And out of this retched underbelly rises maybe the most mad of them all, a pumped up vigilante and a gang of shady characters. And they are glory bound.
1. The Panda Hero

**1**

***The Panda Hero***

"Are you ready?"

The voice scoffs loudly. "I've been ready my whole life." They tip their head backwards, something reflecting light harshly off of an obscure object on their head, perched on the bill of a baseball hat with a bend lid.

"You're on a warpath."

"Don't patronize me."

A shrill giggle erupts and the figure bounces, two bunny ears dancing on their head. "You're off your meds again, G-"

"Don't call me by that name."

"What name would you like me to call you?"

The honking of car horns blare with their shrill intensity on the street of the battered city far below the three figures, one hidden in the shadows hungry shadows in a quiet intenisty. The city lights shine with an incomparable glare and a strong gust of wind sends a green cape whipping frantically around the figure closest to the edge of the construction of the sky scraper.

The caped figure stands, biking goggles reflecting the blinding moonlight like the surface of a clear pond. A smirk spreads across the cracked and double pierced lips of the caped figure.

"Call me The Panda Hero."

*I*I*I*

"Damn idiot!" A loud voice screams down the hallway. The sound of shattering glass hitting the wall explodes like a grenade and the same voice screeches. "Where did you put it?" This male voice is slurred. The whole air has the overwhelming and pungent scent only created by a specific combination of cheap beer, cigars, and rat droppings with just a hint of mold.

"I smoked it you-", A female voice is cut out of the child's ears as a pair of dirty palms cup around their ears suddenly, making them jump. The child squirms backwards, forcing themselves into the stomach of the person behind them. They smell like sweat and rain.

"You're okay." A voice above the little boy soothes with their usual gruff monotone. A hand covered with a black fingerless, leather glove strokes the side of his dirty and matted green hair. "You're okay."

The boy nods, wincing as the sound of more glass shattering and more drunken slurs burst from behind the thin and rotting walls and the old dark wood door.

In the dim moon light cast from the outside window with no glass the boy can twist around to look into the face of the figure above him. The girl is of average height with dirty and slightly tanned cheeks with heavy dark, sleepless bags under her eyes. Two long strands of green hair fall into the little boy's face and the much shorter hair around the base of the girl's skull is kicked out naturally. A pair of biker goggles hang around her neck. She is wearing a plain white and oversized T-shirt and green knee-length cargo shorts that swish when she moves. A white bandage wrapped around the entirety of the girl's right arm hides the not-so-fair skin beneath.

The boy curls into her stomach more, shifting from his position in her lap. Her free hand travels from smoothing the side of his head to rubbing the top of his head gently, pressing his head into her chest as the screaming grows in volume.

"They're almost done, now." The green haired and bandaged girl assures, her amber colored eyes hidden through a deep shadow and mangy bangs.

The little boy nods, his own ratty green hair tickling the upper part of his neck. His dark brown overalls over his grey T-shirt dig uncomfortably into his leg and the boy shifts slightly to avoid the pinch of the buckle.

In the glare of the moonlight even the filthy stained and age old carpet doesn't look any better. The closet door is off it's hinges and is crooked, the bed is merely a twin sized matress lying on the floor with a dark green blanket. The desk is a mere piece of scrap wood lying across stacked phone books and chipping bricks from the yard. The loud shrill whine of cicadas and the cool summer night wind blows through the duck-taped together, nearly shattered window. A used and second hand, white night stand is the only piece of untouched furniture in the bedroom.

The voices outside the room steadily quiet and the girl shifts the little boy out of her lap slowly and silently, leaving him huddled at the foot of the "bed", cowering.

The girl slowly inches open the dark colored and scratched up door, peering into the hallway. She slinks out slowly, inching the door nearly closed behind her. She comes back a moment later, although ever second she was gone passed as an eternity for the young boy.

She creeps back into the room, inching the door closed without a sound behind her, and sliding the dead bolt back into place. Turning to the little boy, she gives him a thumbs up and moves forward without making a sound, lifting him up from under his arms and setting him down gently on the bed, closest to the wall, directly under the window. She crawls in next to him, throwing the ratty old quilt over his body, now only dressed in boxers and the grey T-shirt.

The girl grabs a pair of black draw string shorts out of the bedside table and returns from inside of the closet a moment later, wearing these and an orange spaghetti strap tank top. She crawls in beside the young boy and listens to his breathing silently for a moment.

"Sissy?" He says very softly in a very childish coo.

"Yes?" She pulls of her gloves and sets them under the night stand.

"Do you think they'll ever stop?"

The green haired girl finally lowers her head down onto the pillow the two share. "No, Gumiya. I don't think they'll ever stop." She refuses to lie. About some things, at least.

"But you'll always be here?"

"Of course." She places a hand on his back.

"I saw you ran out of your special pills yesterday." The girl goes very silent, deathly so.

"Yes."

"What'll happen this time?"

"Don't worry. It already has happened."

"Oh. Do you need more?"

"Yes." She pulls the blanket down to around her waist now.

"Where will you get them this time?"

"From my friend, you remember Len, right?"

"I like him."

"I know." She says softly, feeding off of the dying songs of the summer bugs outside of the window.

"Goodnight, Gumi." Her little brother smiles to himself.

"Goodnight, Gumiya."

*I*I*I*

A girl rushes over behind Gumi, slapping a newspaper down on the picnic table before her. The harsh summer breeze blows through the city park carrying a new wave of sickening heat.

"What's? This?" She garbles tiredly.

On the front page is plastered a grainy black and white picture of a caped figure and two others, the headline reading:

**PANDA HERO **

"Bravo." The other girl whispers, grinning ear to ear under a hood with long floppy bunny ears.

"Bravo." Gumi replies, snickering.

"What shall we do tonight, Panda Hero?" The bunny girl asks, leaning forward over the table.

"Something epic."


	2. Dog Radio

**Kya~! I know I should be updating my other stuff instead of starting new stories but I've had this idea for a while and wanted to put it down before I forgot it! As you probably already noticed I rated this story as M, my first one. Not because of any... "romance" scenes, but kind-of the overall heavy content. I have a lot of references to gang crime, drugs, drinking, and heavy abuse. But I think it works with the story just fine! **

**Hope you enjoy, and thanks to my first reviewer, pseudoCalibrator!**

**~_Tiruneko_**

* * *

**2**

***Dog Radio***

The screaming noise of breaks hitting asphalt peel throughout the crowded streets, sending pedestrians cowering of what might come. Nothing does come, though. The car swerves violently, smashing directly into the small city park in the center of all the chaos. The red truck slams into the tree by its side and glass goes flying as the man driving is launched out the missing driver's side door.

As the man struggles to regain his balance and some of his senses, his eyes flicker upwards to see small specs of stars in the blackness of the sky. Then, a figure moves into his already obscured line of vision and covers his view of the marks of stars long dead.

A hand shoots down and grabs him roughly by his long red pony tail, dragging him into the view of a park light. Above him is a figure wearing a long and tattered green cape over a maroon colored tank top and beige colored cargo pants that are just a little too big around the waist, revealing a light pink corsage underneath held in by an uncomfortable looking buckle. The sleeves of the pants are rolled up and painted under her eyes are sideways tear shaped shadows. On her head is a much too large baseball hat with a pair of goggles perched on the bill. The girl has orange and purple eyes and hanging from her left hand is a metal baseball bat wrapped in black gauze.

"Oi." The girl shakes his head by his hair and the man forces his eyes to become focused on this oddly dressed girl in front of him.

Suddenly, regaining his senses, the man reaches into his pocket for his silver hand gun. With immense force, a booted foot comes smacking down onto the red haired man's upper back, causing him to gag and spit onto the grass beneath him. The girl nods something to a figure the man can't see and a moment later he feels the weight of his gun disappear.

"Oi. I'm talking to you." The girl shakes his head again, further dizzying him. The arm of the cape falls off of the girl's left shoulder, revealing neon paint reading: PANDA HERO. "I said, 'I'm talking to you.'"

The man curses loudly and begins to thrash under the girl. "Cops are gonna' be here soon. I'm sure you'd much rather prefer me over them." The loud shrill hiss of police sirens is distant but approaching gradually.

The Panda Hero nods her head to the other figure and as she moves towards the wreckage of this man's car, he catches a glimpse of her. This girl has bright pink hair partially hidden by a wreath of the remains of a white cotton hood off of a parka. Her jacket is a long sleeve camouflage padded army jacket with thumb holes in the sleeves. Two heavy looking artillery belts cross the girl across her shoulders, one rust colored, one black. Little pockets line each. She has orange skinny jeans and in her hand is a wooden baseball bat with the words PANDA HERO spray painted across. This girl is the same height and has the same colored eyes as well as the same face paint. She disappears towards the wreckage of his car.

"Hey. Hey. _Hey,_ don't worry." The girl drags out a pair of spray painted handcuffs out of her pocket and drags the now thrashing and violently angry man towards the light post. She clips him there and draws out a can of green and pink spray paint from her pockets. She shakes both at the same time and begins to spray them along the trash can directly next to the light pole. "This'll only hurt a little."

The Panda Hero raises her bat and sends it crashing down into the man's head, smashing his face against the ground and instantly breaking his nose as well as knocking him unconscious instantly.

She looks over her shoulder towards the wreckage of the car and moves over gradually once her work on the trashcan is done. The Panda Hero stops at the dented trunk, where the other girl is.

"Sheesh."

"What do we do now?" The other girl's voice is incredibly forceful for someone who rarely speaks. It's soft but not too soft and gruffer than The Panda Hero remembered last time. She turns to face the girl. The collar of her jacket hides her mouth entirely and goggles rest on her shoulders, facing outwards like second eyes.

The Panda Hero turns her gaze to the car, now, filling the trunk are all kinds of electronics. TV's, flat screens, car radios, even some phones and a couple tablets. She reaches in, fingerless gloved hands pulling out an object and cradling it between her palms.

It's an old radio, the kind you had to tune yourself, with antenna and everything. It's shaped like a dog, no doubt an old relic created to be an object of wonder to a child.

"Burn it." Without further instructions the pink haired girl draws out a lighter from the inside of one of her belts as The Panda Hero walks over to the gas tank and begins to brutally attack it with her baseball bat until fuel comes trickling out into a puddle around and under the car, seeping into the ground.

The Panda Hero steps back out of the puddle and takes caution to rub off the soles of her shoes of the liquid before the pink haired girl joins her. She holds out the silver lighter to the wind.

"La Pa Pa… Pa Pa La Pa La…" The Panda Hero mutters a tune under her breath, just noise. The lighter falls into the puddle with the flickering yellow bloom of a flame dancing on the tip. Fire gradually crackles on the ground then erupts into a full blaze that engulfs the car in mere seconds.

A noise in the other girl's ear startles her and she nods to The Panda Hero. ""S time."

The two turn and leave the park, disappearing into the trees and traffic beyond as police cars speed into the park, careful to stay away from the fire. One blue haired officer notices a trashcan spray painted quite elegantly with amazing talent using only green and pink reading,

**Panda Hero~!**

The two girls run throughout the streets and come to one very large construction site made up of a skeleton of red metal pipes and frame work. Beyond that is the steady call of an ocean. Which one, it doesn't matter. The Panda Hero slips the tip of her heavy combat boots into a hold between two pipes and a metal bar. She pulls herself up and the other girl follows. Once they're at a height of about six or seven stories, The Panda Hero moves off of the side of the frames to onto the top of the wide frames, walking across not even slightly worried for her own balance.

Bellow them the streets call with their whining and artificial cry.

She continues walking along the precarious gurney until she moves out of the street and over a couple of other buildings until she's directly above a narrow alley fenced in by old rotting wood and grey brick walls on one side. She stops, waiting for the other girl to come with the rope.

The pink haired girl throws down the rope, wrapping it and triple knotting it tightly around the length of a pipe. She hands the other end over to The Panda Hero who wraps the rope around her arm and grips it tightly in her hands. She suddenly leaps off of the building, sliding down the rope and landing with a harsh thud into the alley. The other girl follows but has a much easier landing of no consequence.

The Panda Hero wipes off her pants and holds her right arm in pain before muttering something and picking up her bat. They walk down the narrow alley until they get to a makeshift door created out of wood and scrap metal. This door leads into the part of the alley where there are three large dumpsters. One day the pink haired girl brought a blowtorch and some air freshener. The girls cut out the facing sides of each of the dumpsters, opening up one large area under the bulk pick up glorified trashcans and welding them together to make a kind-of darkened room in the alley.

The Panda Hero bangs the side of her fist against the door.

"What's the pass-s-s word?" A sing song voice chirps brightly, giggling.

"Open the god damn door, Yuzuki."

"Ah… you're so _mean _Panda-sama!" The door swings open assaulting the girls with the overwhelming scent of smoke.

"It's not a freaking' manga, my name isn't Panda-sama you idiot." The girl before her is relatively short with a long maroon hoodie that covers her hands and passes her hips. On the hood are two large floppy bunny ears. The girl has purple hair pulled into two very low pony tails, right now scraggly and hanging out. She is wearing a purple tank top and brown short-shorts with matching high brown boots. Her eyes are glazed and her movements are spastic, as if she's flickering.

"Are you high?"

"Maybe…" She giggles, wrapping her arms around herself and snapping her head backwards, cackling madly. She collapses onto one of the large pillows surrounded an old and termite infested coffee table.

The Panda Hero smacks the dog radio down onto the table with a thud and the other girl closes the door behind her, sitting down beside Yuzuki.

She pulls off her "hood", revealing quite longer pink hair hidden by a pony tail and deceived by a spiked upper layer. The Panda Hero sits down across from them, grinning madly as she pulls off her hat.

"That was fun, huh Luka?" She asks, still grinning.

"Yes." She agrees.

"Hells yeah!" Yuzuki bubbles, slapping her knee and reaching for a paper bag and some of their spray paint. Gumi snatches them up and sets them behind her back. "Aw…" The purple haired bunny girl frowns.

"I think you've had enough. Luka, can you take Yuzu home? I have to go… take care of some stuff." Gumi stands. "Oh, Yuzu, you called up the twins, right?"

She waves her off as she slings a shoulder over Luka as she drops her utility straps down on the ground and takes off her jacket. The "room" inside the empty and scrubbed clean dumpsters is illuminated by a string of Christmas lights hooked up to a stolen and barely working generator behind Gumi.

Luka licks her thumb and wipes off the eye face paint and takes the pony tail out of her hair. She then takes out her colored contacts, revealing clear blue eyes. Under her jacket is a half-sleeved black V-neck shirt and she takes off the orange jeans, revealing white shorts underneath. Lastly she removes her boots and replaces them with a backup pair of sneakers left at their base earlier. She looks like a normal rich girl.

"You clean up nice." Gumi states, looking unimpressed as she moves into a darker corner of the room, pulling off her tank top in private and throwing a white oversized T-shirt and army green cargo pants. She doesn't bother to change her shoes. She also slips off her cape and removes the body paint and hat, but leaves the goggles on her head. She clips a red can of spray paint onto her belt and removes her colored contacts.

"You as well." Luka says blandly.

"Shut up, rich girl."

"Where are you going tonight?" Yuzuki asks, giggling as she speaks.

"Home. So did you call the twins, or not?" Gumi demands rather gruffly as the three exit the alley and climb the rope back up onto the large construction site. The only way to enter their base would be to climb the abandoned construction and drop down, or to climb the heavy electric towers lining the block and try to launch yourself far enough to make it into the entirely closed off narrow alley, which would be stupid.

"Yes. They'll bring your stuff here tomorrow at eleven." Luka has to carry Yuzuki across the construction site, out of fear she's too out-of-it to walk straight on a narrow pole seven stories high.

"How're you doing without it?" Luka asks in her signature emotionless monotone.

As they thud down on the sidewalk Gumi shoves her hands into her pockets, frowning and casting her eyes downwards. "What does it look like to you?"

Luka nods, turning and walking off with Yuzuki now nearly passed out and hallucinating on Luka's back. The two round a corner down the street and disappear. Gumi turns, setting her own way home under the light of the moon and shadows of the city.

*I*I*I*

Gumi rounds the last final corner and stands before abandoned and decade old rail road tracks, overgrown with weeds and decorated with the colored glass of shattered beer bottles. On the other side of the tracks are the slums of the city, where Gumi lives. The first thing she's greeted with after walking past two run down homes is the scent of smoke and beer. The next thing she's greeted with are the shrieks of a child and he angry shouts of a man.

Gumi's eyes widen with panic and she takes off running up her dead front yard, past the old bus with no tires or windows, past an over tipped trashcan and past an abandoned couch overrun with cockroaches and a rapidly breeding rat population.

She flings open the door to the nearly entirely dark home to be greeted with the sight of her father, standing over her little brother, waving a leather belt around. Gumiya has been crying. A lot.

"Dad." He turns his blood shot gaze from his "girlfriend" towards his daughter, standing in the doorway, fuming.

"Did 'yu take it?" He slurs.

"Yes." She has no idea even what he's referring to.

He screams all sorts of cuss words, stalking forward and gripping Gumi roughly by the upper arm, pinning her to the wall and sliding her up it. She glances at Gumiya and mouths silently to him, 'Go to your room'. He shakes his head no and she mouths again, 'Go to bed, Gumiya.'

The seven year old boy gathers enough courage to bolt from the living room and down the hallway to the room he shares with his older sister. He throws the door shut and slides the deadbolt just as the noises erupt from the other room. He hears her cry out in pain and counts the muffled grunts his father emits from exerting himself, heard through the walls.

The thud of fists on a softer object, the sound of pained and muffled cries, the noise of feet hitting the walls, the noise of panting as he finally gives up, probably too drunk to even think. Gumiya waits, huddled into the blankets on the bed. He hears soft knocking on the door and immediately lurches forward, jumping to unlock the door.

His heart sinks.

Even in the overwhelming darkness Gumi's injuries are apparent. She stumbles over to the bed and pulls out a first aid kit, frequently used. She flicks on the lamp with no shade next to her bed and gently cups Gumiya's face in her hands, cleaning and bandaging his cuts and bruises, using the last of the bandages to cover the marks on his skin.

"But- you're hurt too!" He cries.

"Hey, no, I'm good. Besides, no ones' gonna' see my marks." She forces him to lie down and pulls the blankets around his shoulders.

Once Gumi is positive he's asleep she pulls out a folded up page of a newspaper out of her pocket and traces the grainy picture under the headline, Panda Hero.

The last thing she thinks before passing out is what they'll say about her tomorrow.


End file.
